balletforme

Dale, I agree entirely with your analysis. That said, for me, something is missing? And I think it unwise to be so public and detailed if you want to keep working in the industry. Better to simply say, "My body type and size were an issue for leadership. I chose to leave valuing my health."

ABMom, Many schools are actually holding live classes with safetly protocols in place. MIami, SAB, BAE, National Ballet School Canada, Rock. . .

And.. . .so what "official news" is telling us that they ARE doing anything? A lone principal dancer's instagram post doth not official NYCB news make. Mearns is always involved in a number of side projects. Megan Fairchild is not in NYC I do not believe. Many others are not either. Would company dancers come back if the company was offering class? Would NYCB let their audiences and donors know that "dancers are back?" Seems odd for them to "hide it under a bush?" All the other companies who are bringing dancers back are proclaiming it through news outlets, official company social media. What Variety? WSJ? NYT? sources tell us that NYCB is doing anything? NONE! They are.doing.nothing. They have an annual budget over 60 million--highest in the the US. They have an endowment that is also the highest. All public info. NYCB does not "rent" space for performances or rehearsals. Koch is "their" theater. MCB raised relief funds to support their dancers. National Ballet Canada got grants. Cut salaries Boal discussed their funding outreach and salary cuts. I can post the official sources if verification is needed. Ballet West is going forward--"working as long as we can" Even ABT is up at Kaatsbaan bubbling and dancing. Perhaps in the long run the choice to pay the administrators in a company through the pandemic and let the dancers collect unemployment and find their own conditioning and classes is a "good" decision, but the question remains for whom?

Is it just me or is anyone else completely disgusted with NYCB? They are doing nothing for their dancers and claiming it's financial and yet Miami, San Fran, Ballet West, and Joffrey several others have brought their dancers back?

NYCB ballet dancers are collecting unemployment (those who can.) Not foreign dancers. That's verified through numerous Instgram posts. They are not being offered any classes through the company. Th What a sad company. They have the HIGHEST budget of ANY ballet company in the US (89 Million in 2018) and yet companies with less money are paying their dancers, using relief funds to give them classes, performing in small works and chamber pieces (SFB, MCB, PNB). They do not care about their dancers or do not have the will or the way to raise a decent fund. (Yet these other companies can.)

National Ballet of Canada is back. . . Infection rates are very low in Toronto (like below 2%).

AGMA has developped a "Return to Stage" Guidance document for all its performing artists, including dancers. https://sdcweb.org/return-to-stage-and-performing-arts-playbook/

That artistic director tends to heavily favor a very thin dancer. It's well known.

Aren't many high contact professional sports going on and functioning? NHL? NBA? NFL? How are they doing it and can't dance do that? In addition, the COVID disease is mild for the majority who get it. . . this is not ebola or AIDs.

I know of several dancers in Canadian companies who are dancing in pods. Small ones of 3-4 people.

It strikes me as odd that with all the medical advances that we have we are still mostly relying on strategies that were used over 100 years ago.

Seriously? I don't smell well because I have allergies and take meds and, as a post menopausal woman, I get hot too. The risks to basic civil rights are increasingly emerging. You can't smell a cherry jelly bean and so now you can't work?

Why is Houston, laying off its dancers and not more central office staff? They obtained a PPP loan. There are companies with far less money, bringing dancers back at modified rates of pay to stay in shape. Why are dancers the first cut?

And, well, ballet dancers are part of that group of mass unemployed people? Right? They are actually people. While they make it possible for audiences to watch ballet, they, themselves, are also suffering from unemployment.

It seems to me that the media (and related group think) are doing what they do during epidemics-- make a "news story" out of people who are infected. This further stigmatizes the illness. I find that really damaging to the ballet world. It's kind of sad that the chief critici for WaPo can only think to drone on and on about Julie Kent. Clearly a slow news year in dance. Furthermore, people in all walks of life, in all professions have contracted this disease and dance is no different. If we dramatize and decide that the standard in dance is no dancers infected ever, then we really do endanger the future of dance with group think. Acknowledge the risks, give dancers some choices about their return, and then let "Early adopters" move forward. Other sports are doing so. The purpose of controlling this spread is to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. As a group, dancers are pretty healthy. Few are morbidly obese, few are hypertensive, few have respitatory issues (though this might be a higher risk.) And, if you are going to mention that study in South Korea about dancers, do remember that it was 37 dancers (a very small sample in my field) and that, when distanced the risk was not high.